header banner
Default

People were unaware that Bank of America had eliminated 7,500 jobs


Table of Contents

    When the banking job cuts of 2023 are reflected upon by generations to come, the cuts at Bank of America are unlikely to be remembered. It's Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citi that have made the most noise about trimming heads in 2023. But it's Bank of America that has quietly cut the most.

    In the first half of 2023, Credit Suisse cut just over 4,000 people. Between January and the end of September 2023, Goldman Sachs cut 3,200 people. Citi cut 2,000. Morgan Stanley said it was cutting 3,000 people, but its net headcount only appears to have dropped by 1,700. 

    Bank of America? Bank of America cut 5,000 people, or actually 7,500 people when you consider that it also hired 2,500 students as per the chart below. 

    bank-of-america-headcount-1

    Source: Bank of America 

    At its peak, in early 2023 Bank of America had 218,000 people. Now it has 213,000, despite adding 2,500 campus hires. "Our headcount is now down over 7,000 FTEs from a peak in January, even with the addition of 2,500 college grads this fall," declared BofA chief executive Brian Moynihan yesterday. 

    In fact, Bank of America may have cut even more than 7,500 people given that it's also been recruiting heavily in fixed income sales and trading in Europe.

    Get Morning Coffee in your inbox. Sign up here.

    Who were these people that were let go? And how come no one noticed? A few BofA exits were reported: a small number of London investment bankers were cut in June; 40 bankers were cut in Asia in May; a head of equity derivatives trading disappeared in August. In the banking and markets businesses, though, it's all been very low key - suggesting that most of the cuts came in the more populous retail bank and elsewhere.

    The cuts have also been beneath the radar because, technically, very few were actually cuts. BofA is still practicing its hiring freeze strategy and is mostly letting people leave without replacing them. Moynihan said the team has been working hard to "manage headcount down" in a world where no one wants to leave. People are being gently ushered out. This is why, while other banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on severance payments, Bank of America isn't talking about severance payments at all.

    The non-cuts at Bank of America are likely to continue. Moynihan said yesterday that the bank remains committed to cutting another $200m from quarterly expenses. He added that it will benefit from "the third quarter headcount reductions" in the months to come. 

    Click here to create a profile on eFinancialCareers. Make yourself visible to recruiters hiring for top jobs in technology and finance.

    Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email [email protected]. Signal also available.

    Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)

    Sources


    Article information

    Author: Caitlin Irwin

    Last Updated: 1703977922

    Views: 995

    Rating: 3.7 / 5 (71 voted)

    Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

    Author information

    Name: Caitlin Irwin

    Birthday: 2021-01-28

    Address: 692 Maria View, Lake Joshuashire, PA 31505

    Phone: +4568135858347834

    Job: Environmental Engineer

    Hobby: Bird Watching, Cooking, Gardening, Golf, Fencing, Archery, Horseback Riding

    Introduction: My name is Caitlin Irwin, I am a frank, Determined, Precious, steadfast, rich, dazzling, multicolored person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.